Leading the way in change of India’s nutrition market, PNUT cafe,India’s first online KETO / LCHF Restaurant, is a game changer for the health conscious fraternity of today. Abhimanyu Yadav, after numerous of his personal health transformations, has set out to transform the way Indians look at healthy food. With the PNUT cafe, he is providing the means to a healthy lifestyle for the people in Delhi & Gurgaon. In this interview, he tells us why healthy eating is not just a choice but the need of the hour & how PNUT cafe provides us with a way to sustain it.

Q. Let’s start with a small introduction- Who are you & where is home? Where did your journey begin?

Prior to PNUT I was a regular corporate Joe with a focus towards fitness and transformation. Despite my busy work life with management consulting firm(s), I underwent various fitness transformations during my career. I am an avid fitness enthusiast who competed in various marathons, Olympic level triathlons, and other similar physical endurance events as an individual and a corporate representative. I pursued my MBA from TAPMI, and am a Chemical engineer from N.I.T Jalandhar. I have more than 7 years of experience in the field of management consulting with firms like Deloitte and Bain & Co. I am from Delhi but being an Army kid, I have lived in all parts of India and am quite adaptable.

It all started 10 years back when I did my first transformation with the right nutrition and sports (120kgs to 80kgs in 6 months). So combining my passion for fitness, health, and food, I was finally able to take the plunge and realize this long-term dream of filling the void of right nutrition to drive fitness goals.

Abhimanyu Yadav, Founder, PNUT CAFE

Q. Why did you decide to pursue a career in the restaurant business especially a nutrition cafe?

10 years of sweat and salt (physical training and clean eating), I have seen it all. Being an obese person almost 2/3rd of my life I understand the pain and challenges in getting and staying fit. During my journey, especially training I felt a huge void in the market for a precise nutrition provider. Soon enough after spending 7+ years in the corporate environment I finally realized my calling and quit Bain to start PNUT.

Q. How would you describe your average customer?

Our average customer is someone who takes care of his/her health not only for the aesthetics but wholesome inner health too. People who are serious about their health or would like to make that change but neither have the knowledge, time or skills to do that.

“This is a blessing”- actual customers most commonly used line. They are amazed that a Keto Restaurant exists and can’t wait to order from us. They are bowled over that they can order in & eat keto compliant parathas, rice and treat their sweet tooth with keto desserts.

Keto Paleo Blueberry Muffin Basket

We understand the time and effort that goes in to maintain a Keto lifestyle. There are other no options available, sure you can eat butter chicken or paneer curry in any restaurant but one can never be sure of what kind of oil they are using or what the ingredients are. Also, they are not going to tell you about macros distribution. For people on Keto, It’s like you always end up eating home cooked food because you can’t take a day off without risking messing up your macros. But with PNUT now they can actually enjoy a day off without having anything to worry about.

Q. Most people in India would say they want to eat healthier, but based on your experience, how do people actually eat?

People have this misplaced idea about “healthy eating,” case in point – brown bread, which is still ~40% refined wheat flour (Maida) or oats biscuits – that are laden with unwanted sugar and still have Maida as a major ingredient. So, the majority of people who think they are eating healthy, are in fact not.

PNUT Keto Breads

Q. What’s your secret to keeping customers coming in? What have been your most successful promotions, and where did they originate?

The customer who understands why they need to eat what they eat would never cheat (eat unhealthy). You won’t see a strict vegetarian cheating sometimes with non-vegetarian food. This is because they understand why they are doing what they are. Similarly, our most successful promotions are the ones where we educate people in terms of what is healthy eating and how they can do it right, be it an event at Cyberhub or a nutrition workshop at a corporate office.

Nutrition workshop at Evalueserve

Q. How do you deal with people who think that all this eating healthy and having a particular kind of diet is nothing but pop culture propaganda?

They best way to deal with such people is to show them results. We never promote anything that we haven’t tried on ourselves. Before promoting a Ketogenic diet by opening the online Keto/LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) restaurant, the PNUT executive team did Keto for over 3 months, understanding every aspect of it. So, we are here by experience.

PNUT founder Abhimanyu with fitness guru and inspiration Kris Gethin

Q. What’s your take on the statement that “Healthy Lifestyle is Expensive”?

It’s amazing when people say a healthy lifestyle is expensive. It’s a mind-set. People who go out on weekends spend 2000/- on an average on drinks and food. They spend bulk loads on a gym membership which they don’t even use properly. They also spend a lot of money on doctor and medicines. But they can’t spend money on broccoli and zucchini. If you do the math, the time and money that goes into planning & preparing a day’s healthy meal is far more than they pay to PNUT to get 5 meals in a day.

For example, Groceries (including superfoods) will cost bare minimum 8000/- per month, time spent (diet planning, grocery shopping, preparing food, measuring & portioning) – minimum 1hr per day (time is money = min Rs. 500/- per hour) = Rs.15000/-per month. Plus the maid/help required to clean the dishes. Maid costs on an average 5000/- per month in NCR. Total cost = 28000/- per month. Comparatively, with PNUT you get 5 healthy and tasty meals delivered to your doorstep every day for a fraction of that cost. You just have to “EAT TO ACHIEVE YOUR FITNESS GOAL”.

PNUT Meal Bags

Q. As a restaurant manager, how important is it to have actual experience in every aspect of the business?

It is most definitely one of the cornerstones of a successful venture. In the past one year, we have experienced it all, be it kitchen operations redesign, innovation through R&D, optimizing logistics through a third party vendor and in-house teams amongst other things. We have learned a lot which no consultant, industry expert or any other training would have taught us. This has helped us gain the confidence & set up the infrastructure we have today.

Q. What are some of the challenges you have faced being a restaurant owner?

Educating people about “actual healthy eating”, through busting various myths and misconceptions (e.g. Fats are not your enemy). Also, ensuring the same grade of taste in our food as any other convenient/fast food(s) provide without compromising on the natural goodness and flavor of ingredients.

Q. How does the reality of restaurant management as a career differ from the typical expectations?

We don’t consider ourself as a regular restaurant but instead, a wholesome nutrition provider and our team(s) are more like people’s health coaches. So, to answer your question, this role is much more rewarding and fulfilling than typical restaurant management. The feeling of actually making a difference in someone’s health and thereby their life is next to nirvana.

PNUT at Cyberhub with Celebrity healthy chef Saransh Golia

Q. Your mission in life is to become the one-stop shop for all the diet-related food. What are the top 5 benchmark skills you acquired, and you feel are the reasons behind the constant growth of PNUT Cafe?

Hands on experience – I have over 10 years of personal experience in the field of nutrition and physical training when it comes to the optimum offering. We practice what we preach.

Understanding the customer – we know the pain of the customer, we have been there and we know how best can we help.

PNUT KETO Boxes

Innovative mindset – Innovation is the key, you need to keep updating the product in order to keep providing the best in class deliverable.

Agility – We are quite agile when it comes to reshaping our model to the customer’s demands and the need of the hour.

Holistic product – We provide 360-degree nutrition care, unlike other so called “healthy” outlets. In addition, we also provide physical training options through our best in class training partners like Sculpt Gyms, Fivemore For Fitness and Reebok Crossfit.

Q. Are there any other restaurant owners, chefs or nutritionists you follow or read? What material do you recommend to our readers who look forward to getting in this business?

The works of Kris Gethin, international fitness guru and a personal mentor/friend have been quite innovative and inspiring for my own journey. Other notable fitness trainers in this field who I follow include Jim Stoppani and Neil Young. Also, I would recommend the works of healthy celebrity chef, Saransh Goila, Prof. Tim Noakes, Kristin Loberg, and Nina Teicholz amongst other notable people in the field of KETO/LCHF lifestyle.

Keto Thai Curry with Cauliflower rice

Q. How are you different from the so called, “health” restaurants?

Focus on 360-degree nutrition – we provide complete care, full nutrition, 5 meals a day and 365 days a year. We believe that healthy eating lies in consistency – it’s a lifestyle not a one-time thing.

R&D – Just like google, we spend 20% of time in innovation and R&D to come up with the best possible product.

Fitness passionate Executive team – Just like the founder, the executive team is also passionate about fitness & actually practices what we preach

We have delivered over 25,000 health boxes in less than 10 months. We are India’s first online KETO / LCHF Restaurant and we have now expanded operations from Gurgaon to Delhi

Low Carb Jucy Lucy Lamb Burger

Q. What are our future plans?

Expansion to other cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chandigarh

Complete In-house organic production and utilization (vegetables, herbs and livestock)